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Entries categorized "Television"

October 23, 2011

I feel as though I’ve rediscovered an old friend, and I’m thrilled about it.

The “old friend” is Masterpiece Mysteries on PBS.

I don’t know why we stopped watching it, but somewhere back in time, I guess somewhere about the time that the last “Inspector Morse” was aired, we did.

For sure people’s tastes and viewing habits change. But what Laura and I both have found is that we’ve missed this show. We’re both thrilled to find that there’s a whole new crop of shows.

Let’s see, there’s “MI5,” a very well-done and very fast-paced spy drama shot in London.

There’s “Case Histories,” set in gorgeous Edinbrough, about a former cop who is chasing not only old cases, but also his own ghosts.

There’s “Foyle’s War,” which I’ve not seen yet, but which is getting great reviews. I’m recording that on our DVR.

There’s Doc Martin, which also is getting great reviews, which again we’ve not yet seen but have our DVR set up to record.

There’s “Zen,” which purports to follow the late Michael Dibden’s excellent Aurelio Zen novels, but doesn’t. I’m a fan of the novels, but don’t much care for these adaptations as they don’t seem to follow the books at all closely, and the actor chosen to play Zen is nothing like the books describe him – not in appearance and not in manner. Ah, well. At least it’s shot in Italy, so the scenery and cityscapes are beautiful. So is Zen’s girlfriend.

And of course there’s “Inspector Lewis,” which is the sequel series to “Inspector Morse,” staring the same man who played Lewis, as Morse’s sergeant, now bumped up to inspector status. Really excellent.

All in all, these BBC fares are reason to watch TV again. We both really look forward to them. We’re a little surprised at how much more interesting these shows are than the crap found on domestic TV. But we’re just happy someone is showing these British gems and we’re happy to have rediscovered our old friend, Masterpiece Mysteries.